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Sport | Football

Reds still have time to bolster their defence further before the summer transfer window closes

Transfer hope: Virgil van Dijk

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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne1 minute ago

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Virgil van Dijk says further defensive reinforcements are required at Liverpool, despite the signing of Giovanni Leoni.

Liverpool took their summer transfer spend over the £300million mark with the arrival of Leoni from Serie A outfit Parma.

The 18-year-old has signed a long-term contract with the Reds.

The £26m deal was announced shortly before the Reds kicked off the defence of their Premier League crown at home to Bournemouth on Friday night.

As a result, Leoni was in attendance at Anfield to watch his new club throw away a 2-0 lead before late goals from Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah sealed an opening day victory.

However, just like against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield last weekend, Liverpool’s weaknesses defensively were highlighted by the Cherries.

While Leoni is a talented central defender in his own right, the Reds are still keen to bolster this department with a Premier League-proven player to hit the ground running.

Liverpool have held talks with Palace about Marc Guehi, who is in the final year of his contract at Palace, but the two clubs are yet to reach an agreement on a transfer fee.

Speaking after the win over Bournemouth, van Dijk admits signing another defender would "accelerate" their immediate improvement but until the club go back into the market the hard work has to continue within the squad.

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He said: "You can say you have to accelerate it (improvement) but that is down to the market.

We have to focus on what's here and now.

"I think it (defensively) was much more improved than the last game but there is still work to do.

"The manager already said we are playing with a right-back (Jeremie Frimpong) who came from the Bundesliga, is 24 years old and is trying to get used to how we defend, we play with Milos (Kerkez) who is a very young full-back, very eager and full of energy, who is trying to get used to the way we play.

"It needs time, that's absolutely normal, but we also played without our six, Ryan Gravenberch, who missed out (with suspension).

"We have to keep working, that's the main thing, trying to keep clean sheets.

That's what we have to work on."

Additional reporting by PA.

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